Inhale. Exhale. Unfollow.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Unfollow.
I stare at the computer screen, looking at their Twitter, my hand braced over the “unfollow” button.
It’s easy. I lie to myself. They’re already out of my life, I don’t talk, text, or e-mail them anymore. I haven’t seen them in months. This is just the next step. I have to unfollow them. Permanently erase them from my life. Easy, sure.
God, when did life get this hard? It used to be so easy. You just stopped talking to a person. You could try to convince yourself that you just fell out of touch, that people grow apart. But you knew it was that you couldn’t have them in your life. But you could just not answer their calls, tell yourself you’re busy. That’s it. Now, you have to make a conscious decision to remove someone from your life. Not just not talking to them, but by removing them from your social media.
I put my hand on the mouse, but as I lift my hand from my lap, it starts to shake.
It will be healthier for me. Now that’s the truth. No more online stalking, seeing what they’re up to. No more causing myself more pain by seeing their newest beau. No more writing updates and seeing if they understand I was talking about them. It will definitely be healthier.
I need to breathe, but I can’t. I can only stare at the “unfollow” button, with my hand on the mouse, willing myself to click the button.
You’ll be happier this way. I probably will be happier. I can’t torture myself anymore, which is good. Now I just have the memories of them to torture me. Great.
Will unfollowing them from my social media really help me? Will deleting them from Facebook, or unfollowing them on Instagram really help me happy and healthy? It’s not like we talk anymore, or see each other, so why not just leave them where they are? The memories won’t go away anyway. Will I really stop thinking about them? No, I won’t. I won’t lie to myself. I’ll still hear that song, our song, and I’ll think of them, still see that movie, the one we wanted to see together, and I’ll wonder if they’re seeing it too. So what’s the difference?
I know I’m trying to convince myself to not unfollow them, to let them continue to torture me, even if they don’t know that is what they’re doing to me. I’m trying to keep them in my life, any way that I can. But I know, deep down in my head, not in my heart, that I cannot continue to do this to myself. My head knows what I need to do, but my heart doesn’t want to do it. But I will, one click at a time, one breath at a time.
Once I do it for Twitter, I’ll have to it for Instgram, Facebook, and Snapchat. Anything I follow them on, I will have to undo. I will have to make the conscious decision to remove them from my life, to delete them, unfollow them.
I didn’t think unfollowing one person would be this hard.
The worst part? They probably won’t even notice that I did this.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Unfollow.
I click the mouse, and they’re gone.